Vacation roundup, part 2

I had visited Newport several times, and been past the mansions, but I'd never been inside. My parents won two mansion tickets in a raffle, which I put to very good use. I loved The Breakers - I thought the audio guide was extremely interesting and well-narrated, and the visit flowed really well. It was fascinating, if a little overwhelming. I also visited Chateau Sur Mer, which featured the World's Crankiest Tour Guide (who was also a little bit repetitive). It was interesting, but not quite as OTT as The Breakers. I was there on a glorious autumn day, as you can see from the picture.

This was me, on the first day (jet-lagged) with my birthday buddy Snoopy (the dog), and our new tote bags. The Roo bag currently has 2 Leathermans (Leathermen?), a pair of pliers, and a boat towel in it. We'll be sailors yet!

This was my foodie-porn shot from the night before A & P's wedding. That would be seafood chowder. A spoon-supporting seafood chowdah from Maine. Ayuh. (And, my goodness, was it good!)

Second foodie pic: Me (obv) and Mario Batali at the NYBG. He's there, really. Right in the middle of the picture, on the stage, wearing orange shorts. You might have to click on it to make it bigger...

This is one of my faves from the whole trip - g. and me at the Bronx Zoo. That would be g, the owner of the blue dress. She's SO cute and smart and generally awesome. Also, hanging out with her and her mom (my bf from high school) meant that we got to go to the children's zoo. ACE! I'm applying for President of the g Fan Club. I might have to settle for President of the European Division - she's pretty popular!

And you're now at the end of the vacation roundup - back to the baking/knitting/sailing/bell ringing madness!

Recursive StowmarKate

I don't think I'm going to tear a hole in the space-time continuum, but one never knows. This picture was taken at Starlite Diner in New Rochelle (also known as "Mike's," if you're my dad). It's me! And my blog! And the diner! So now, to hopefully not shred the space-time continuum...drumroll...it's a picture on the blog of a picture of the blog (which has a picture of Mike) at Mike's. Phew. Still there? Great!

Unsurprisingly, I didn't spend my full 10 days on the eastern seaboard at Mike's. I hit up (in order): New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachussetts, New Hampshire (didn't stop in NH), Maine, back to NH, MA and RI, back through CT, more NY, some New Jersey, back to NY, and home. I think I need a vacation from my vacation.

Between all the driving, my mom and I had a few really fun days in RI, mostly biking around and doing what my dad always refers to as "girl stuff." Mostly eating and riding bikes, with a few small shopping excursions. Clothes are so much cheaper on the other side of the Atlantic. And since it was so nice out, I put my toe in the water in Bristol Harbor. I have officially been in the water on both sides of the Atlantic this year. Lucky me!

And no trip to New England would be complete without the Lobstah. YUM.

Happy Birthday to ME!

Well, I hit the ripe old age of 29 today. Ack. After a brief interlude last spring where I had completely convinced myself that I was 27, going on 28, I've been happily 28 for a while. But 29 is nestling rather close to 30. Alarmingly so.

In any case, James did a beach cleanup with the Sea Scouts two weeks ago, and they had a few prize draws for participants. He won two tickets in the cleanup-sponsors' box (that would be BT, then), for today's match against Leeds. As you can see, the BT box is not too shabby - we were field level, right on the halfway line.

The players were thisclose and it was a great game. The TractorBoys managed 2 (!) goals against their bitter rivals, there was lots of good singing, we had a good group in the box, and the away fans were entertainingly rowdy, but not alarmingly so. We may have to go to more games....although something tells me it won't be in a box next time!

Thanks to BT, to the Sea Sprouts, and to our host today. And especially to James (and to his "other" family, who were generous enough to offer me the extra ticket)!